November 12, 2026
Tonight: who shapes the list of women’s health services insurers must cover at no cost, rising testosterone use, and more.
— Meghan McCarthy
WHO GETS TO DECIDE WHAT’S FREE?
HHS is seeking an organization to recommend updates to the preventive services most private insurance plans must cover for women at no cost. Those guidelines help secure no-copay coverage for birth control, mammograms, breast pumps, and annual well-woman visits. An ACOG-led coalition has reviewed the evidence since 2016, but its federal grant ended in February. The relaunched program, now called WISH, will award one organization up to $1 million in its first year. HRSA approves the coverage recommendations. About 58 million women had private coverage that included no-cost preventive services in 2022, HHS estimates. Applications close Jan. 8.
TESTOSTERONE PRESCRIPTIONS RISE, MONITORING LAGS
New testosterone prescriptions for women grew about 22% a year from 2022 to 2024, according to a study of around 10,000 women in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Only 17% had a documented diagnosis of hypoactive sexual desire disorder. Treating that condition in postmenopausal women is the only use backed by evidence so far. Just 16% of women in the study had a testosterone test documented before starting. The authors point to consumer-directed marketing for “a wide range of unsupported indications.” Among women who continued treatment, a substantial share stayed on it beyond two years.
MAVEN MOVES MIDLIFE CARE IN-NETWORK
Maven Clinic is bringing its direct-to-consumer hormone care in-network with more than 475 commercial health plans, Fierce Healthcare reports. Those plans represent about 80% of commercially insured people, the company says. Visits through its GLP-1 program go in-network Jan. 1; that doesn’t guarantee coverage for the medications. Patients can use their insurance whether or not their employer offers Maven, though coverage and out-of-pocket costs vary by plan. Subscribers typically fall between ages 38 and 50, which Maven sees as evidence of a care gap after the parenthood years.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU STOP
Women with depression who continued antidepressants during pregnancy had a lower risk of postpartum depression than those who stopped, according to an observational study of around 6,600 patients. Kaiser Permanente researchers found the highest risk among women who had depressive symptoms early in pregnancy and stopped treatment, at nearly three times that of women who continued medication and had few or no symptoms. The findings, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, suggest antidepressants may help prevent postpartum depression in patients with past depressive disorders. Symptoms during pregnancy can help patients and clinicians weigh treatment decisions.
IS CLOSER MONITORING WHAT IT TAKES?
Black mothers in a UK cohort had more than twice the stillbirth rate of white mothers: 5.7 vs. 2.5 per 1,000 births. The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Women’s Health analysis examined around 179,000 pregnancies, and Black mothers’ higher odds for stillbirth persisted after researchers accounted for maternal characteristics and late-pregnancy scans. But when clinicians suspected a baby was small—a finding that prompts closer monitoring—researchers found no statistically significant difference by ethnicity. The gap appeared among pregnancies without suspected small fetal size, raising the question of whether closer monitoring could help.